Does anyone have experience with this product?

http://www.bdel.com/gear/apollo.php

A friend of mine is thinking about getting several of them to use in the wintertime camping in large groups with teenagers. I can't figure out their weight either. Thanks in advance for any/all help.

Click on the word details.

MAX BATTERY LIFE
3-WATT LED- 60 hours

WEIGHTS
WITHOUT BATTERIES- 220 g (7.8 oz)
WITH BATTERIES- 320 g (11.3 oz)

Edited by jshann on 05/21/2008 18:08:02 MDT.

Hi Sheila,

I just bought one of these and am pretty impressed by the light it gives out. I've also got a Brunton glorb LED latern that while lighter does not shine the light downward much. The black diamond lantern blows it away and scatters light downward pretty good so it would work well hung in a tent. It's a little heavy though, mine weighs 11.2 oz with 4 alkaline batteries installed.

Cheers

Dan

I've Just received mine today can't wait to try it in camp. It illuminates great and is very well made, real compact but just a little on the heavy side when all the 4 AA sz batteries are loaded. Love that the lantern has a dimmer the main reason why i bought it in the 1st place, it is a very useful feature.

Thanks everyone. Let me know how those work out for you. Sounds like it might be a great tool for our program. The weight actually sounds great compared to the propane lanterns (no, that was not a typo) that some of the staff were carrying. It's hard to facilitate activities after about 2pm in the winter here without light!

I bought a small Coleman pop-up lantern at REI for home emergency and car camping use.

The lantern has a CREE LED bulb which is the most efficient bright LED bulb on the planet (so far). I really like the small size and big light of this lantern. I think it was around $30,+

The ONE problem with all these LED lanterns is that none are regulated to provide virtually constant light level throughout the batteries' lives. My Princeton Tec Quad headlamp is regulated and "someday" maybe all battery powered LED light devices will be regulated.

I'd suggest that whatever LED lamp your friend gets that they use lithium batteries if they want to get maximum battery life in cold weather.

Eric

Edited by Danepacker on 05/22/2008 20:48:20 MDT.

I think we have a Spotlite coming on the Coleman LED lantern.

The Princeton Tec Quad is NOT really regulated. It IS current limited while the batteries are at high voltage, but that is a poor version. It very quickly reverts to completely unregulated. You can check this via the measured performance graphs in my Reports on it at BGT.

Cheers
Roger

Roger,

Yes, the Quad is "current regulated" and not switch mode regulated but it's still one of the best out there and, unlike most Petzl LED lamps, it won't burn up the circuitry if you use lithium batteries.

I WOULD pay another U.S. $10. $15. for an LED switch mode regulated headlamp or lantern. PErhaps in teh near future some company will be brave enough to try it. Usually prices for tech goods drops quiclky over time so there is hope in this "price point" driven market.

Eric